Lunch
by Lucy Morningstar
Summary: Sesshomaru and Kagome have lunch after ten years. Oneshot. AU.


_DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha is Rumiko Takahashi's. :(_

Summary: Sesshomaru and Kagome have lunch after ten years.

A/N: This story, like my many others, is written simply, because that's just my style. If you're lookin' for some emotionally heavyweight SessKag fics with details of full glory, sorry but you're at the wrong page.

As usual, not much of a plot, haha. Or maybe just to show what kind of idiot Sesshoumaru can be. 

**Lunch  
**

I was walking down the street when I bumped into Kagome. I had to admit I was surprised by her appearance because she looked different from what I remembered.

"Hey," she said.

"Why, hello Kagome," I replied. Isn't it a long time since we've seen each other."

"Yeah, it's been like, what? Ten years?"

"Ten years eh."

"And I know this sounds cliché, but it feels just like yesterday when we were still kids rolling in the hay."

I managed a smile.

"Hey, what say we go grab some lunch, huh?" she suggested. I groaned inwardly. I had an appointment in half an hour's time, something I couldn't possibly back out just for the sake of having lunch with an old friend.

"Look," I started. "The truth is, I'm on my way to somewhere else actually. Why don't I give you my name card and you could contact me again sometime?"

Kagome received my card cheerfully, then peered on it, which for some strange reason embarrassed me.

"Sure, no prob," she said.

"Well I'm on my way now." I turned back and nodded at her.

"Bye," she called out.

I only received a call from her some months later. We agreed to meet at a small café in town for lunch.

It was my first time there. Funny but it wasn't at all crowded when we were arrived. It was the kind of place you've heard of or pass by everyday but never thought much about it. The café specialized mainly in cakes, but also had other local and western fare to fill up its menu. I myself ordered a cordon bleu ("It's "_blur_" not "blue"," said the waitress) but regretted my choice the moment Kagome simply ordered for, well, cake.  
I was hoping terribly that she would finish it slowly, lest she would have to spend half our time there just staring and watching me eat.

"It's okay," she said with a smile, as if reading my mind. "I'm the slowest eater I know."

"Really," I said. I couldn't remember if she had been ten years ago.

I rubbed my hands together and looked around the café. Nice white décor, relaxed ambience. The staff worked quietly behind the bar, each of them pre-occupied with their given tasks. Time seemed to pass more slowly here, and discreetly so. A song played softly in the background. I recognized the singer as Stevie Wonder, but couldn't remember the song title.

"It's a nice place, isn't it," Kagome said, watching me.

"It is. I should come here often next time and work on my laptop, drinking coffee."

She giggled and bent forward in her seat. "Speaking of which, what _are_ you doing right now? I saw your card-you're a what, financial adviser or something?"

"Yes, that's right," I said, loosening my tie a bit.

"So what do you do, sell insurance and stuff?"

"Well, that's not entirely true, but you are partly correct."

Her cake arrived the moment I finished with my sentence, along with my cup of expresso. The waitress placed them as appropriate on the table, bowed and left. Kagome picked up her fork and started poking it.

"And you?" I asked. "Been leading a great life? You seemed changed."

She giggled again. "Nah, I'm just still the same old person. And I've been job-hopping around like a maniac."

"Sounds typical," I replied.

Kagome grinned. "Actually there's nothing wrong with the jobs-all jobs are the same. It's just my bloody attitude, that's all." She sighed. "Makes me wonder if I will ever have a real job."

"It's okay. You will get there," I reassured her. I then stirred my coffee quietly, staring into it.  
_  
It's okay, you will get there?_ Since when have I learnt to say such things? 

Kagome started to eat her cake. A large wedge, the height as thick as my palm when I gripped it. It was a rich chocolate cake, with some whipped cream and a strawberry lying atop of it. I didn't think I could eat half of it without feeling sick.

I sipped my expresso slowly.

"I thought you were allergic to strawberries?" I spoke again.

"Hmm? Sorry, what was that?"

"I thought you were allergic to strawberries? Your mother didn't let you eat them long ago, right? Or something like that."

Kagome gave a giggle and wiped her lips with a serviette. I waited for her to swallow her food before she could speak again.

"I am allergic to strawberries, but I can eat them," Kagome finally answered.

I frowned. "Meaning?"

"Well, what I mean is I can't _touch_ strawberries. My fingers will go all red and itchy when I'm in contact with them. This goes the same way with oranges and kiwis as well. But I _love_ eating them, that's for sure!"

"Hm. Maybe it's the acid."

She nodded. "Yup." She began shoveling more cake into her mouth. "I think I'm going to save the strawberry for last."

I pulled my lips a little, looked elsewhere and sighed. My meal was sure taking a long time. I looked at my watch and rubbed my palms together.

"Are you really that hungry?" Kagome asked, her eyes on me. She looked like she was worried, and half-joking at the same time.

"Yes. Is the food always this slow?" I loosened my tie a little bit more, nearly yanking it in the process.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I only eat cake when I'm in here," she stated simply.

The song on the playlist died, and a new one slowly emerged into existence. Another Stevie Wonder number, and again I couldn't remember the title. I stirred my coffee again and rubbed the tabletop smoothly with my palm. I was wishing I had a newspaper right now; I suddenly had an urge to see how the funds were doing.

"You know, we haven't met for ten years now, the least we can do is talk about something interesting," Kagome murmured.

I looked at her in surprise, and was struck silent for awhile. "Oh," I said at last, then ran my fingers through my hair. "It's just that, well, I really don't know what to talk to you about. I can talk to you about my work, but that would bore you, I know."

"How would you know?" Kagome asked me back, as she stared at her half-eaten cake. Something had changed in her tone of voice. "You didn't even ask how I was doing properly."

"Ah, but I did. You said you were still the same old person."

"Yeah, but didn't you want to know what else happened to me during the last ten years? How can you be satisfied by just that one answer alone?"

"Alright, so did something happen to you during the last ten years?"

She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it back and looked away. She sighed and shook her head.

I looked down at my cup of coffee and moistened my lips.

This is why I hate meeting people sometimes. I only meet them when I have an intention, an objective to achieve. What intention could I possibly have with her? To me she was just a memory of my past, something I had not thought of for a very long time. It's as if I've thrown a rock into a pond a long, long time ago and then it suddenly resurfaces back. I'm struggling to remember all the things associated with her, but I'm having trouble. I could be a hypocrite and ask her all the questions to which the answers I am not interested of. But no. If I have nothing to say, then I will say nothing. All I have right now is a fuzzy image of our time together when we were young. Perhaps I could conjure some important or memorable moments, but not so abruptly, and certainly not in a place like this. To make matters worse, I was hungry and my mood was slowly worsening.

I pinched the corner of my eyes, then stood up.

"I'll check up on my food, and when I get back, we will talk about something good, I promise."

Kagome still staring at her cake, said nothing.

I strode to the bar where I signaled a waitress. Gesturing to my table, I told her that I had been sitting for nearly half an hour over there and my cordon bleu (making great sure to pronounce it correctly) still had not arrived yet. In fact, if I wasn't mistaken the lady there had also ordered an iced peach tea, and that too-where was it?  
The waitress gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. She bowed and apologized repeatedly, before saying she will check with the cook. When she turned to do just that, I quickly called her again. She looked at me apprehensively as if she was ready for another complaint.

I tried to give off a casual air. "It's alright, you can go check after this. I just have a question for you. Do you happened to know the title of this song?"

The waitress frowned, then shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't listen to English songs. Also, this belongs to the boss's collection. He's not here right now though."  
I nodded and went off.

When I returned to my table, Kagome had continued on her cake.

"They said they'll check up on it."

"I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head. "That was rude of me just now, the way I acted."

"It's okay. I admit it's partly my fault as well."

She breathed out a smile.

I brought my hands together and leaned in towards her.

"So how old are you now?" I asked genuinely.

"I'm only four years younger than you," she replied with a laugh. "You count yourself."

"Hmm. You still living with your parents?"

"Yup. By the way you do know that Grandpa's passed away right?"

"Oh, yes. But I was at Indonesia at that time, so..."

"Never mind."

The same waitress from the bar came with a glass of cold drink. I gave her a look, and she bowed lower than usual before making her way off.

Kagome dragged the glass to her lips and began drinking it.

"Ever thought of buying a house?" I asked her again, as I adjusted my collar.

Her nose crinkled. "Nah, I don't have money for that kind of thing. Well, even if I do, I'll probably be off renting some apartment. Why do you ask?"

"Just a question. I take it you're still single then."

"Mm...on-off relationship, you know. Still with the same person."

"You're not thinking of getting married?"

"Umm...no," she answered hesitantly. "I need to make a lot of money first!" She broke into laughter at her own statement.

"Well, one of my friends just got married," she said again. "They're thinking of buying a new house, but they're aren't sure about it."

"They should," I replied, firmly. "The markets prices are well right now. It's a good season to be buying houses."

"Is it?''

"Yes, and it's stupid if they ignore this opportunity now. Why don't you recommend me to them? If they're having money issues, it's no problem. I can sketch out a mortgage plan for them, but I will have to meet them first."

Kagome gave me this exact same look that the waitress gave me.

"Ohkaaay," she said slowly. "Remind me to give you their number later on."

"At the same time, you can pass my card to them. Here." I whipped out a business card from my name-card folder and handed it to her. She placed the fork back on the plate and gave a flimsy smile as she received it.

"Thanks."

I drank my expresso carefully. I'm going to finish it before I can even get to eat, I thought glumly.

"Life is short," Kagome suddenly said, as I placed the cup back on the platter. She sounded as if she was reading the lines from a book. I examined her face. She looked pensive, as if afraid to go on.

"Something wrong?" I asked her.

She waved her hand, dismissing my question. "Nothing, nothing traumatic happened to me, if that's what you think! It's just that before I came to see you, I was actually just from the cinema. This movie I watched, well, it's so touching and it made me reflect about life." She paused to take a sip of her peach tea. "It's about this man from a poor village. He worked hard for his family, and never thought about himself. All he could think was the happiness of others, to the point that his own desires were left unfulfilled. That was the way it went, until the very day he died."

I nodded slowly, taking in her words. "What about his family? Did they remain poor?"

"Yeah, but they were happy at least."

I shook my head. "He worked hard for the present, but not for the future. To me, this man is foolish."

Kagome gave me that look again, then teased her cake with the fork quietly.

"If he was smart, he would have put some money aside for the future, at least. When he died, what did he leave behind? Nothing. Just his ashes inside an urn."

"Actually, his family scattered it across the sea."

"Ah, that's even worse."

Kagome obviously didn't agree with my opinion, I could see it from her face, but at the same time she knew I was right. In anyways her cake was three-quarters gone.

"So what do you think he should have done?" she asked.

"He should have at least brought some insurance plans to cover himself, or least invested in some money. Insurance doesn't have to be expensive, it just depends on you. The more you pay, the higher the returns. Which brings me to this client I had. A teacher. She bought a plan for herself and just two weeks after that, she had travelled to Hokkaido, where her bus met an accident. She died, and her mother got a million yen."

"Wow." Kagome commented in disbelief.

"I know."

I let out a breath, and gave her some time to think about it. I had hoped it moved her enough to start buying insurance herself.

"Shit," I muttered, without realizing it.

"What?" she said, confused.

"This place keeps playing songs I can't remember. And it's all Stevie Wonder, that I know, but I just can't remember the damn title. For example, this song, what is it called?"

Kagome looked on in puzzlement. Then she answered, "This song? It's _The Jean Genie_. And it's not even Stevie Wonder, it's David Bowie. They've been playing Bowie's songs the moment we stepped in."

I scratched my cheek. "Have they?"

As if on cue, the waitress appeared. She placed my cordon bleu, the chicken sizzling on the hotplate before me and bowed. "Enjoy your meal."

I observed my dish, sucking in the aroma through my nostrils. I grabbed my fork and knife.

"You were saying?" I told her.

"This song is by David Bowie," Kagome said again, this time her voice soft and wistful. "My father had it in his records. You used to come and prance about in the living room to it." She looked up at me. "You don't remember, do you? Both you and your brother."

"Hmm," I thought aloud, tucking into my meal. "No wonder it all sounded familiar. Well. We should meet up again sometime and talk about it."

Kagome grinned. "Yes, I would love that." 

And the next time I see her, I'll remember to bring along some insurance application forms.

_FIN_

**[A/N: Hello! I made some minor adjustments to this one. In this story, I portrayed Sesshoumaru as someone successful who does not look back in life. There is a slight aura of insincerity with his conversation with Kagome, and rather than seeing her as an archive of old childhood memories, he thinks of business opportunities instead. *grins* Which is pretty normal given his occupation.]**


End file.
